The prescription? Slash spending. Avoid tax increases. Tear up regulations that might drive away business and jobs. Shrink government, even if that means tackling the thorny issues of public employees and their pensions.

What? I know that’s absolutely true, and probably fair reporting on what most governors had said. But I never expected to see such fair coverage in the New York Times. I don’t know the writer, Monica Davey. Maybe she’s just an unusual Times reporter.

Or maybe -- this is my hope -- the need for smaller and simpler government has become so obvious that even the clueless liberals are starting to get it. Wouldn’t that be great?

The Times even chose to quote, without the usual sneer, the new Republican governor of South Dakota saying this about his predecessors and politicians in nearby states:

“They have promised their citizens something for nothing,” Mr. Daugaard said of other states during his inauguration in Pierre this month, “and created a society where everyone wants to be carried and no one wants to pull their own weight.”